The Koch brothers will reportedly spend at least $250 million on the 2014 midterm elections — and that’s a conservative estimate.
While the Kochs may have the fattest wallet in the game, they’re hardly alone: In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, spending on elections has skyrocketed. The Court’s more recent ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, which struck down limits on overall campaign contributions donors may make, will only accelerate this trend.
Much of this money goes to the toxic political ads that dominate election cycles. During the 2012 campaign, TV viewers had to endure more than 3 million political ads — a number that may appear insignificant by the time the 2016 presidential race is over and done with.
A silver lining to this media madness comes courtesy of a 2012 FCC rule — created in response to sustained advocacy from Free Press and its allies — mandating that TV stations post their political ad records online. Previously confined to the dusty filing cabinets of local broadcasters’ offices, these records reveal who purchases political ad time and how much they paid for ads. This disclosure is particularly crucial given that it’s possible for Super PACs to otherwise conceal the identity of their donors.
Now the FCC is considering extending its requirement to cable, satellite systems and radio. The proposal is a response to a petition from the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation.
“As cable and satellite systems grow in popularity, they have increasingly become targets for political advertising,” the petition notes. “For instance, political advertising on local cable television tallied $340 million in the 2008 elections cycle, $455 million in the 2010 cycle (an increase of 33.8 percent), and $625 million in the 2012 cycle (an increase of 37.3 percent).”
The Washington Post’s Nancy Scola writes that the FCC seems “eager” to boost political transparency, noting that the petition itself didn’t even cover radio.
Also, she writes, the FCC — which is accepting public comments through Aug. 28 — took just one week to respond to the petition. “This is about as fast as the FCC moves,” public interest lawyer Andrew Schwartzman told the Post. “This is lickety-split.”
The agency site featuring political ad data is a welcome development, especially for journalists and researchers, but not many Americans are likely to run to it for info every time an ad airs. Further reforms are needed.
Schwartzman, who served as a legal adviser to Free Press, has petitioned the FCC to enforce existing sponsor-identification requirements and require that political groups disclose the names of principal funders in the ads themselves. This would allow voters to see — in real time — who’s coughing up record amounts of money to win their vote.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $145,000 in one-time donations and to add 1489 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy